A Message From A Minister On “It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp”
Editor:
I was preparing for bed when I tuned in to the last few minutes of the Academy Awards show, waiting for the news to come on. During the final credits, they showed a couple of young African American brothers with caps and tee shirts walking off the stage with an Oscar. Now I know that the security in L.A. was tight that night, so there was no way that they pilfered the award. The only other logical explanation was that the song "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" won the Academy Award for Best Song.
While I understand that the movie Hustle and Flow (I have not seen it) does not glorify, but exposes some of the horrors of the "pimp" life style, I am deeply concerned that this song was even nominated. Must Black folks always win high honors for roles (Training Day, Monster's Ball) that are negative and/or degrading? Now we have the Three Six Mafia at the Academy Awards telling America that “it's hard out here for a pimp.” Okay, the song has a context in the movie, but for Goodness' sake. Was there no other music worthy of a nomination? Too many of "us" seem to be constantly buck-dancing and yowsa-bossin' our way into the hearts and minds of the American mainstream. What's next? Are they going to nominate Soul Plane II for Best Picture? How about that cinematic classic Phat Beach IV?
When are we as a people going to demand from our artists and entertainers that they present something other than pimps and hoes, niggers and b---hes? There are many other stories that can be told -- I am sure that each of you can think of positive artists, songs and movies that can represent our proud and rich legacy. Why is it that Hollywood seems to enjoy celebrating the most negative images and lyrics within our art forms? When are we going to challenge this? I am sure that many of the Negroes who attended the Awards show are going to clap the award winners on the back, lift a glass with them and watch them guzzle disgustingly expensive alcohol through Platinum teeth laced with jewelry so expensive it could rebuild one of the wards in New Orleans, all the while singing the lyrics to "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" -- never once stopping to think that maybe we haven't taken a step forward with this one. Maybe next year they will nominate the remix, "It's Hard Out Here For A Slave (Da Me and My Niggas Mix)" for an award. Then we can all watch the half-naked mammies and jeans and Timberland-clad minstrels celebrate what someone has told them is the best and brightest of a once-proud people.
Rev. Darren A. Ferguson
New York City
After School Programs A Good Investment
Editor:
With his recent budget proposal, the president missed his last opportunity to make good on the No Child Left Behind Act's promise of increased funding for after school programs. Recently President Bush proposed to flat fund the only federal program dedicated to after school -- 21st Century Community Learning Center program (CCLC) -- next year. While No Child Left Behind authorizes $2.5 billion for 21st CCLC in Fiscal Year 2007, the President proposed just $981 million -- funds that will serve 1.5 million fewer children than what NCLB calls for next year.
After school programs help keep our kids safe, inspire them to learn, help working families and are a good investment. Twenty-first CCLC programs in particular provide a variety of academic and enrichment opportunities for youth, particularly students who attend low-performing schools to help students meet State and local standards in core academic subjects. In addition to offering our youth a safe place to grow and continue to learn in the after school hours, after school programs also save taxpayers $3 for every dollar invested.
Colorado ranks 48th in the nation in the number of children who are unsupervised in the after school hours. Only 6 percent (106) of the 1,851 public schools in Colorado receive 21st CCLC grants. If this budget is approved, Colorado will continue to rank among the lowest in the nation in serving youth during the out of school hours since it will not be able to increase the number of grants for 21st CCLC programs, leaving youth from l,745 low-performing as well as regular or high-performing schools to go unsupervised during these hours or to rely on community-based, recreation, and faith-based programs -- if available. It is up to Coloradoans to make sure our Congressional representatives know how much our communities need more quality after school programs.
Erin O’Donnell
Denver
Congress, Bush And March Money Madness
Editor:
March madness is not just for college basketball fans. There is a certain money madness that applies to our U.S. Congress as it prepares to raise the nation’s debt limit from $8.18 trillion to nearly $9 trillion -- meaning that each American would owe around $31,000. In fact, this is the fourth major increase in the last five years, which Congress must do to prevent our government from defaulting on its loans.
Meanwhile, Congress considers additional budget cuts to programs that serve poor and middle-class Colorado families in order to finance tax cuts that mostly serve the highest-income households and add significantly to our federal deficit. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shows this year’s deficit at $371 billion, although a Treasury Department report shows the deficit is actually $760 billion when calculated to show future payouts.
So, let’s evaluate this money madness on the part of Congress and the Bush administration beside a set of values that define our communities -- responsibility, fairness and honesty. It is especially important that we know what’s going on since Congress will likely vote on these issues soon, and such matters are often decided in the dead of night.
As a middle-class wage earner trying to stay ahead of skyrocketing living costs, I am appalled that wealth inequality has widened in America and in Colorado and that the Bush administration fiscal policies have made things worse. Consider that the average income of the poorest fifth of Colorado families increased by only 14.3 percent over the past 20 years, to $19,000 per year, and that the average income of the richest fifth of Colorado families increased by 53.1 percent to $130,000 per year.
On the tax-cut side, the pattern has been to subsidize the super-rich with tax breaks that reduce federal revenue thus shifting the costs of public services to the states and forcing more of the tax responsibility onto the poor and middle class through state and local taxes and budget cuts. Consider that during the past five years, the top 1 percent of Colorado taxpayers with incomes of $1.2 million received over $200,000 in tax breaks while the bottom 20 percent with incomes of $10,700 only received tax breaks of $523.
If that’s not enough, consider that the Bush administration’s tax-cutting proposals (contained in his 2007 budget proposal) would cost about $1.7 trillion over the next 10 years and that his scheme to privatize Social Security would cost an additional $312 billion, according to the CBO.
In fact, the administration’s proposed budget would grow the federal deficit by $35 billion this year and by more than $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. This, despite the fact that the budget will chop more funding from education, child care, community development, housing, health care, nutrition, child welfare, veterans’ medical care, and environmental protection by $16 billion in 2007 and by $183 billion over the next five years. The budget also chops another $65 billion from Medicaid, Medicare and Food Stamps over the next five years. In terms of exploding deficits, these numbers don’t even include paying for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,addressing the Alternative Minimum Tax issue and extending the capital gains and dividend income tax cuts.
Clearly, our Congressional delegation has a choice. They can stand up for the democratic values of responsibility, fairness and honesty by voting for budget resolutions and tax policies that help wage-earning Colorado families and lift up the American dream of equal opportunity, or they can vote for harmful budget cuts and special-interest tax breaks, which have not worked to produce an economy that works for all.
John M. Kefalas
Denver
Senator Salazar Deserves Thanks For Recent Asbestos Vote
Editor:
Senator Ken Salazar deserves thanks for his recent vote to turn away a massive, multi-billion dollar bailout for asbestos manufacturers. Senator Wayne Allard once again proved his loyalty to corporations, not Coloradans, and voted to bail out the manufacturers at the expense of thousands of our Colorado neighbors who are suffering from often deadly asbestos-related poisoning.
You may not see it, but asbestos is everywhere -- in our attic insulation, in our children’s schools. And four communities across Colorado, including Denver’s Westside, have had over 85,000 tons of waste containing asbestos from Libby, Montana, dumped on them. Hundreds of our Colorado neighbors have already died from asbestos poisoning.
The proposed bailout of asbestos manufacturers has been turned back, but it’s likely not permanent, as the manufacturers and their political lapdogs are still pushing for the bailout. This bailout would hurt our neighbors, force victims into an ineffective new government-run fund, and take away the right to justice for future victims.
We and many hundreds of Coloradans suffering from often deadly asbestos poisoning and their families thank Senator Salazar for standing with Coloradans, not corporations. His vote is a strong stand for justice for asbestos victims, corporate accountability, and fiscal sanity in government.
Maclovio Lucero
Denver
War Is A Bribe
Editor:
I think it is awful that military recruiters use misleading tactics to recruit students, especially at a time when so many of our troops are in harms way in Iraq. The promise of $70,000 for college is just factually wrong. If you study the GI Bill, you will learn that very few veterans qualify for the amounts that recruiters and advertisements quote. The U.S. government needs to understand that today's students are smart, and can read the fine print about how much money they will actually receive for education in return for military service. The amounts typically received aren't even close to the ever increasing costs of a college education. We need to work together to end these misleading ad campaigns that entice young people to enlist by offering false hope and empty promises. Surely America can do better than that! Enlisting when you are told the truth and have the facts you need to make an informed decision is one thing, but enlisting when you are given misleading or false information is just plain wrong.
A.J. Santistevan
Golden
National Women’s And Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Editor:
March 10 marked the first annual National Women’s and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It seemed appropriate to commemorate this day during Women’s History Month. Women are making history, especially women of color, sadly in regards to the number of new cases of HIV/AIDS.
Did you know that Black and Hispanic women represented 81 percent of new AIDS diagnoses in 2004 among women? Women of color account for 80 percent of all women estimated to be living with AIDS, with Black women making up 64 percent of the total alone. HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death among African American women ages 25 to 34 and the third leading cause for ages 35 to 44 in 2002.
Heterosexual contact or injection drug use is the primary modes of transmission of HIV for women across racial/ethnic groups.
These statistics are downright depressing. I am often asked why the number of African American women living with HIV/AIDS is so high. If you look at the history (no pun intended) of HIV we may find the answers. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was defined for the first time in 1982 according to the UNAIDS’ fact sheet “Twenty Years of HIV/AIDS.” In that year, three modes of transmission were identified: blood transfusion, mother–to-daughter and sexual intercourse. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus was identified as the cause of AIDS in 1983 and in that same year an epidemic of AIDS was reported in Africa. In Africa, most of those infected were heterosexual. In most parts of the world the disease was portrayed as a disease that was only affecting “gay white men.” AIDS is not now, nor ever has been, just a “gay white man’s disease.” Since the focus was on a certain type of lifestyle, the thought of women being infected was often overlooked.
What really amazes me is the fact that there was a time in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s that African-American women who worked in the home health field were the main ones taking care of those persons living with AIDS. If you think about the history of this country and the role African American women played from slavery to the Civil Rights era they were always caring for other people while being forced to neglect their own families. But somehow, many of them managed to keep their families together as much as possible.
AIDS works along with domestic violence, substance abuse, lack of education and access to health care, mental illness, homelessness, unemployment, incarceration and yes, low self-esteem to wreak havoc on the African American community. Since African American women are the heads of the household in many families, whatever affects them will affect the family. African American women have often been trailblazers in education, science and politics. What will happen if we don’t address the HIV in the African American community? We are in danger of having generations of women who will never have a chance to make history.
Thankfully, there is some good news. Women of color are now more involved with the research treatment and prevention of HIV. We need more women in clinical trials because the medications work differently in women. Ryan White’s National Youth Conference on HIV & AIDS was recently held in Philadelphia. It was great to see young women speak out about having the disease and the difficulties they have faced. The media often shows the negative things that are happening in our community especially when it comes to young people. We don’t often see young women with HIV encouraging others to work on issues of prevention and treatment. I am glad to know that African American women of all age groups are speaking out about HIV. Now I realize that everyone may not agree with how and why women are speaking out, but at least they are doing something.
I hope that women will take time to talk about the treatment and prevention of the disease from this day forward. Everyone should get tested regardless of their martial status. Make getting tested for HIV apart of your annual check up. If you know someone living with HIV, encourage him or her to seek treatment. This is our chance to improve the lives of future generations of women. Remember, knowledge equals life; ignorance equals death.
Noelle E. Sewell, Coordinator
Restoration Urban Ministries, Inc.
Melrose Park, PA |
